‘Rwandan military intelligence tortured civilians’

Amnesty International on Monday accused Rwandan military intelligence services of engaging in torture, unlawful detention and enforced disappearances of civilians.

The human rights group said in a report members of a Rwandan military intelligence department, known as J2, had tortured civilians with electric shocks, beatings and sensory deprivation to force confessions.

J2 also held civilians in military detention without charge or trial for months on end, Amnesty said.

Rwanda’s Ministry of Justice said on Sunday that while some illegal detentions had taken place, these abuses were handled by the courts.

“These occurred as a result of over-exuberance on the part of individuals within the security services and were dealt with through the courts which immediately put in place corrective measures,” Reuters quoted the ministry as saying in a statement.

Rwanda did not directly address the allegations of torture detailed in Amnesty’s report, but the ministry said reports of torture are “investigated through established channels and are treated with the utmost seriousness.”

Last month a report by Human Rights Watch said Rwanda has been supporting a rebellion in neighbouring Congo, where the M23 rebels have committed widespread war crimes, including dozens of rapes and killings.

Rwanda has repeatedly denied involvement with M23 but many Western donors have suspended aid after a United Nations report concluded Rwandan officials were supplying the rebels with weapons and logistics.